Storm victims help save manatees stranded by Hurricane Irma

"I went out to the bay and saw two objects out where the water receded, so we took off our shoes and walked out through the shells to find two beached manatees" he said.

Michael Sechler posted that the animals were far too massive to be lifted, so he and his friends started giving them water.

Manatee County resident Marcelo Clavijo posted on Facebook he was going stir-crazy and chose to go for a ride when he came across a dry bay. Between law enforcement officials and a group of citizens, the manatees - stranded, of course, in Manatee County - were rescued and carried back into deeper water, Fox 13 reported.

Clavijo pronounced it: "a pretty cool experience".

So the group rolled the creatures onto tarps, dragging them a hundred yards, according to the person who posted the video and pictures online.

A line of evacuees wait for food at the Braden River High School emergency shelter

He gave the manatees water to help, he wrote.

"By this time, people should have already completed most of their preparations and gotten out of the way", said Sarasota County Emergency Management Chief Ed McCrane.

Tony Foradini-Campos on Facebook said the FWC and Sarasota County were able to come out and help save the manatees.

"Believe me, we tried to move them", Sechler wrote. "But between [the manatees] weighing over 500lbs and being stranded in nearly mud-like sand, we couldn't make it happen." .